Cranky. Old. Man?

So I went out of town this weekend and visited my sister, who had just moved into her new place the weekend before. This is her first time living on her own (at age 22... she's a bit later than me with my first living alone experience at 19) and I wanted to make sure she had at least one visitor in the middle of her two weeks waiting for school to start.

She got into grad school at the place where I did undergrad, so there were a lot of places I went around and showed her, and tips to be given. It's the only place I've ever felt homesick for, not because it was a time of happiness and rainbows (there were good times, but if you know me at all, I had a really rough time getting through engineering) but because it was the first place where I lived my very own life. Which is a powerful thing, I think.

It kind of felt like I was passing it on to her. Even if there's a graduate program there I'm trying to get into, I think this was a really good weekend for me too, for me to be able to say goodbye for realz. Now that I'm living on my own again and starting a variation on My Very Own Life, and maybe I'll start going to things more.

It doesn't hurt that I finally decided there was absolutely no way I was going to get to take a class here this semester. I'm going to lean on the five billion more things I've done with my company in my next application and not try to do everything at once. I'm being smarter and applying for a graduate program here as well as the university I really want to get into. Sure, it'll be a master's program only partly related to what I want to do, but it'll be some forward momentum at least. I don't idle well.

Next semester, we'll see.

There was also a goodwill trip, because my sister wanted some cups and plates, so I went along and ended up with several cute tops and a set of four glasses that look rather a lot like what you would see in Don Draper's bar on Mad Men (they're called roly poly glasses, which the internet just taught me). Really. I think I need to learn to actually make some cocktails.

And now some sewing talk.

( current and future projects )

Finally got this. I wanted to make a video to explain some of this, it ended up being two youtube videos because I babble.






Also important: if you want to store a pattern for later, don't stuff it back in the envelope! Put it in a plastic zip bag. The "gallon" (or whatever the metric equivalent is) size works well for containing most patterns. This helps to keep water off the paper and means that it won't get all scrunched up.

Some people prefer to take their patterns (particularly if they are dealing with OLD patterns) and trace them onto paper and not cut them out. This is up to you! Just because one person did it that way doesn't mean actually cutting them out is wrong. Or vice versa.


More info:

- Grainlines

- Better images for pattern symbols

- More definitions

- More explanations for things I didn't go over

-

So I live in Indiana. There are two fabric stores in my area: a Joann Fabrics, and a tiny independent quilting place. No fabulous places full of the costume fabrics like when I visited Phoenix, or bolts as far as the eye can see in a place like Mood. The majority of the people in my area sew for church quilts and things like that.

Nothing wrong with that, but when you're as theatrical as I am, you find it limiting. Or an interesting challenge.

So I'm going to go into where I get fabrics, several of the types of fabrics I think are good for different types of projects, and why you should say no to polyester.

( fabric types )

( places online to find fabrics )

I wanted to babble about more types of fabrics, but I need to get driving soon! Tomorrow's post will be odd due to my being out of town. Just so you know.

Oh and I'm crossposting to sewing, so there's additional comments being added. Check out the first post here if you want to see some more tips that I forgot or didn't know myself!

So, my first week for Three Weeks for Dreamwidth is going to be sewing, costuming, cosplay, and style related. Hell, it may even go into next week because I have a lot to babble about these subjects.

Today is all about the trials and tribulations of beginner sewing, as I know several of you are starting out with machines. Keep in mind, I am basically 99% self-taught and am constantly finding better more finished ways to do things as I go along, which people who have had some formal experience would laugh about.

But hey, at least I'm doing it, right?

I'm going to focus on women's clothing, mostly because I'm just now getting to my first men's clothing project. Not because I forget about you menfolk. I just can't say. If you want a good source of talk about men's sewing projects, I suggest Male Pattern Boldness. During his sew-alongs he goes through things step by step, and has lots of comments on both mens and womens patterns, particularly vintage.

( things I wish I'd known when I started sewing )

Now for some beginner projects.

( good beginner projects )

Tomorrow I'll start my "real life cosplay" sets, which will consist of clothes you can find to mimic the style of some videogame characters. I'll probably have those throughout the week, in addition to commentary I make about other aspects of sewing and clothing and fun.

Also, if anyone wants me to play stylist for them, leave me a comment. ^^

There's been a lot going on lately. For me at least.

I put in an application for an apartment that I viewed on Friday. It's in a building attached to a Turkish and a Chinese restaurant as well as a bakery! Hopefully someone won't snipe me on it, but the whole "hey I have a steady job and a possibility of a raise soon and btw, I won't have a car so you don't need a parking spot for me" thing means I have a lot going for me.

And I really want this place. Biggest studio apartment I've found in my price range, excellent location (like next to the post office, the fire station, a block from the bus station, and did I mention an attached bakery?). It also has color on the walls (one red wall, one yellow wall, one brownish wall, very warm and Mediterranean).

This may not seem like a big deal to a lot of you, but immediately after graduating last December, I moved in with my parents, because I wasn't sure if I was going to grad school yet or not, or even if I wanted to stay in this town, or pursue jobs elsewhere. Well, I like my job (most of the time, like all jobs, it's not perfect), but I don't like living about 30 minutes away from said job (yeah... that's how far out I am).

And I miss being in a town. It's no wonder I'm an introvert, having grown up out here. I got so used to people being around while in college that I think that maybe it's part of why I've been so listless.

When I'm feeling listless or anxious, I make things. Or play things.

( things made )

( things played )

Today I managed to not only get our regional Girl Scouts interested in using our game for a pilot, but they actually want to pay for it! So I kind of made a sale. Yay.

Tomorrow I have to drive to Big City and attend an afterschool summit thingie. I heard about it yesterday, because my bossboss forgot that he was at GDC (you know, Game Developers Conference, the FUN conference) and had a registration for this and needed someone to go. I almost had to go today too, but I had said Girl Scouts reps meeting.

I'm one part excited, one part not emotionally ready for having to get up at 5 am to get my ass to the place on time. Bah for living an hour away.

This weekend I went through my closet, and only found two pieces of clothing I want to give away. XD So a short Goodwill trip. I will likely make another pass soon.

I also got started on two of my sewing projects. I started my sister's dress, which is in four pieces, as I have to cut out the lining (I was debating if it needed a lining, the top part could use one. It's such a supercute pattern, I really like how it's turning out. An in-process picture I took. The shiny side is the inside, not the outside.

The Toph costume has been cut and the top is in a partial state of construction. I'm trying to ensure that it is the right combination of drape-y and fitted, so there has been much draping on the mannequin and debating how to go. I also am doing a modified neckline, so there is much drape, look at it, fold, cut... look at it again going on. I also managed to mix up my front and back patterns (the back has a seam, because I wanted one) but thankfully I managed to figure out how to reverse that issue. XD The pants are still in pieces.

So, yeah, that's basically what's been up.

Just wanted to show off a refashion I finished today.

( pictures and details )

Alright, getting back into the swing of things. This week is going to be full of meetings with work (one of which I may be attending in a conference call while driving to Ohio, well that's what I get for letting them buy me a fancy phone I guess), so I'd better get this out of the way before those all start up!


- Nerdy character aprons! I sort of want to try making some of these myself now for characters that I like! Not that these characters aren't fabulous, of course.

- Mormon housewife blogs... the wave of the future? I've reached new levels of meta, reading a blog post about blogs.

- Clothes for boobs! As in, the larger endowed.

- How to live an extravagantly exuberant life.

- Zero gravity space kittehs.

- Biotic games

- A style strategy for 2011

- Do gamers have the most vivid dreams?

- The luxirare collection. Anytime I see people talk about making a "uniform" of clothes to wear, I cringe. Luxirare's take on dressing simply is quite artyful.

- Hong Kong fashion week. These are the kinds of fashion shows I like to see stuff from. Everything is just beautiful.

- South African musicians, and file sharing. Since everyone's talking about ebooks and the like right now.

- Paint It Black: Johnny Cash Tribute album. Speaking of downloads.

- Engineer designs his own heart implant.

- Fashion while eating. Two things I like!

( an in progress shot of my surprise costume... the identity revealed! )

Oh and I made a Veld and Elfe FST for those of you that like that sort of thing.

Since I'm going through lists of things to make.

( first, have a finished apron )

Got two more aprons to make in the immediate future, one for someone who asked, and one for a SURPRISE RECIPIENT.

And here's my costume lineup as of an AWESOME EMAIL yesterday:

2011

Ohayocon (January)

- Surprise Sparkle Costume

- Daryl (FFVI), re-wearing it for a photoshoot so there is awesomeness.

- Ward (FFVIII), if I feel like it. Dependent on if I find cheap overalls or not.

Acen (May)

- Elizabeth (Persona 3). I love her outfit, and it will be fun to sew.

- Juliet (RomeoxJuliet)... maybe. This look in particular, I like.

- Probably going to re-wear Daryl again, because I LOVE THAT COSTUME.

Otakon (July/August)

- Moon!Yue (Avatar: The Last Airbender). We're getting together a whole A:TLA group, and I was originally going to do Azula, but Sev is more appropriate for this group. Plus this look is airy enough for a summer con.

- Toph (Avatar: The Last Airbender) for drakonlily. Aged up version of her, first FULL costume I'm sewing for someone else. Very excited.

- Iroh (Avatar: The Last Airbender) for yi_sen. Um YES. TEAHOUSE VERSION TOO. With help from Sev.

- Ahriman, or THE FLYING EYEBALL (Final Fantasy Series). For the epic MONSTER GROUP.

2012

Ohayocon (January)

- Azula (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Otakon (July/August)

- The epic Cecil Dark-Knight-Fading-Into-Paladin costume.


I need to get cracking!

But I gots rambles. And it's best to just get them out.

( some costuming design revisions or ideas, fun eh? )